09-11-2025, 04:30 PM
Lisa, thanks for the reply. You say:
To prevent any close examination of the signature. Otherwise, even the forensic tools of the 1920s could have revealed that it was a forgery.
In turn I ask: how come there is no evidence that the signature was there, before Voynich got the book? Neither Barschius nor Marci mention it; and they would surely have noticed it, since it is visible on the photograph taken before the chemicals were applied. No Jesuit library record mentions it. And did Voynich himself ever mention it? IIUC, he made inquiries about "Tepenecz" but did not say why...
And anyway the Book Switch Theory does not require that the signature to be forged by Voynich. That is just one of the possibilities.
Those few bits of letters resemble Marci's handwriting, but are they positively his? Maybe those letters were there when Voynich got hold of MS408, but (like the other marginalia) they were not by Marci, but by whoever owned MS408 in the 1600s.
Or maybe they were forged by Voynich, as "evidence" that MS408 was indeed BookA. Because otherwise there would be absolutely no evidence of that. Then he smeared that margin with chemicals for the same reason as above, namely to prevent any "forensic" examination of them.
Marci was an important scholar, professor, rector of Charles Univ, etc. Surely there are many extant samples of Marci's own handwriting out there, that Voynich could have easily have obtained copies of.
Yes, and that is a main reason why forgers and scammers thrive in that market...
Well, the Sinapius signature conveniently being discovered by Voynich on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is one of the reasons why I suspect foul play by him...
All the best, --stolfi
(09-11-2025, 03:35 PM)LisaFaginDavis wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In order for the Sinapius signature to have been faked by Voynich, he would have had to have written it, scraped it away, and then added the "liver of sulfur" reagent to make it legible, damaging the book in the process. Why go to all that trouble and risk?
To prevent any close examination of the signature. Otherwise, even the forensic tools of the 1920s could have revealed that it was a forgery.
In turn I ask: how come there is no evidence that the signature was there, before Voynich got the book? Neither Barschius nor Marci mention it; and they would surely have noticed it, since it is visible on the photograph taken before the chemicals were applied. No Jesuit library record mentions it. And did Voynich himself ever mention it? IIUC, he made inquiries about "Tepenecz" but did not say why...
And anyway the Book Switch Theory does not require that the signature to be forged by Voynich. That is just one of the possibilities.
Quote:Same goes for the Marci annotations on f. 1r.
Those few bits of letters resemble Marci's handwriting, but are they positively his? Maybe those letters were there when Voynich got hold of MS408, but (like the other marginalia) they were not by Marci, but by whoever owned MS408 in the 1600s.
Or maybe they were forged by Voynich, as "evidence" that MS408 was indeed BookA. Because otherwise there would be absolutely no evidence of that. Then he smeared that margin with chemicals for the same reason as above, namely to prevent any "forensic" examination of them.
Marci was an important scholar, professor, rector of Charles Univ, etc. Surely there are many extant samples of Marci's own handwriting out there, that Voynich could have easily have obtained copies of.
Quote:The lack of external, supporting evidence does not surprise me at all and does not make me suspicious. Nearly every medieval manuscript has holes in its provenance.
Yes, and that is a main reason why forgers and scammers thrive in that market...
Quote:I would be more suspicious if the provenance had no uncertainties at all.
Well, the Sinapius signature conveniently being discovered by Voynich on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is one of the reasons why I suspect foul play by him...
All the best, --stolfi